Those Pesky Seven Years
by Professor of Gallifrey
Summary: What if Link had been sent to Fiore at the same time that the Tenrou Team was sealed away? What if they had just barely missed meeting each other? How will the guild react to hearing about the new member that had joined while they were gone? One-shot based on a theory of mine. Enjoy!


Those Pesky Seven Years

**Professor: Alright folks, my first new story in years! Man, it feels great to be back at this. I've missed uploading new stories. But I have a bunch planned for you and I really plan on being more active on this site. **

**For those interested, I am also posting my stories on Wattpad. My username for that site is on my profile for those who prefer that site. **

**Anyway, this is just a fun one shot I thought of. Isn't interesting that seven years always pop up in the fandoms? I love exploiting those coincidences. **

**Anyway, I own neither The Legend of Zelda or Fairy Tail. Please enjoy. **

When the Tenrou Team returned home after being frozen in time for seven years, there were quite a few surprises waiting for them. From their own guild, and others.

Some of the good ones were Bisca and Alzacks's marriage and the arrival of Asuka. Or Laxus getting reinstated to the guild. Ren and Sherry's engagement or Romeo growing up. A new magical tournament with other guilds.

There were some not so great surprises as well. Gildarts leaving again. No longer being the top guild in Fiore. Jellal escaping. No word on where Zeref or Acnologia had disappeared to. Lucy's father dying.

But there was one surprise that was always a personal favorite for almost everyone. The story of a strange child who had spent seven years with their guild. A child who was resourceful and intelligent, adventurous and loyal. One with the true Fairy Tail spirit throughout the seven years he spent in Magnolia, growing up before the guild's eyes.

Macao always said that he wished he had made the boy an S-Class, but that was something the Fourth Master never did for anyone, the subject far too painful at the time.

Reedus would draw pictures of the boy all the time while he was there, so they at least had a face to put with the stories.

He always wore a green tunic with a triangular hat. A blue shield with a red crest and three golden triangles they had never seen before adorned his back and he held a sword, one he carried with the confidence that came from knowing how to use the weapon. The look on his face was always harsher than it should be, especially as a child. It was almost as if he had seen things he never should have, stuff he wished he could undo. His blond hair, blue eyes, and pointed nose completed his appearance rather well.

"Link came as a lost child, but grew into a fine man," Macao would tell them sadly, "One of the best mages we ever had."

It was at this point that Wakaba would always interrupt, desperate to point out the obvious, "He could give you a run for your money on requip magic Erza; time seemed to stop whenever he needed something. You'd never see him pull it out, but next thing you know, it was in his hand and he'd use that weapon like a pro. Although, he seemed to only use a few simple weapons. He never wanted new ones, only those he came with. But boy, was he _talented _ with them. There was never an end to different ways he would use them. Honestly, it was like that kid was born to slay monsters."

"But he did always seem confused that we called it 'requip'," Macao would jump back in and say, "To him, what he was doing was natural, not magic."

Finally the Tenrou Team had had enough. They demanded answers, details about this boy.

"What happened to him?!" Erza burst out, her friends nodding in agreement, "Where did he come from?! Where did he go?!"

"Oui, oui, that's quite a story," Reedus answered first, "But we don't exactly _know_."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Levy huffed at him.

"Link-nii-chan would tell us, but it was always about this made up place named Hyrule," Romeo explained, "We've never found it."

"What would he say?" Lucy questioned.

"He said that Hyrule was a great kingdom," Alzack spoke up, "With many different races and people. He often told us about the ones he visited. Apparently he was quite the wanderer. Lon Lon Ranch, Castle Town, Kokiri Forest, Death Mountain, Zora's Domain...he went to all of them."

"No, he said he was raised in Kokiri Forest by the Great Deku Tree. That Link-nii-chan was a Kokiri, the only one without a fairy!" Romeo corrected.

"A fairy?"

Romeo nodded and turned back to the Tenrou Team, "Yeah, but no tail. Fairies in Hyrule don't have them. Apparently the Kokiri get a fairy companion all their life, but he didn't have one until right before he came here. Her name was Navi, and he really missed her, but the goddesses said she couldn't come to Fiore with him. That he had to grow up on his own, but she was waiting for him to come back."

Lucy, Levy, and Wendy got a little teary eyed at that, but their curiosity got the better of them. So, when Gray asked about the 'goddesses', they listened intently.

"Link-nii-chan said that he was sent on a quest by the Great Deku Tree, and then the Princess. He had to gather the Three Spiritual Stones to get to something called the Triforce before an evil wizard named Ganondorf did. But when he pulled out the Master Sword to get it, he got sent here instead! The goddesses of Hyrule told him that he wasn't big enough, or strong enough, to defeat Ganondorf yet and sent him here to train until he was."

"That's so cool!" Natsu burst out, to which Romeo agreed by nodding enthusiastically.

"Link should've been strong enough when he left," Bisca huffed, "Not only did he grow with his skills, but he also had two strong spells. Din's Fire and Farore's Wind. He said that there was a third one to that set, but he hadn't gotten it yet."

"What else did he do?" Wendy asked them.

Wakaba chuckled, "It's more like what _didn't _he do. He told us all about Hyrule, but that boy got into almost as much trouble as Natsu and Gray!"

The guild ignored the protests from the two boys in question so they could keep listening.

"Link loved to explore. He went everywhere, especially places he wasn't supposed to. I don't even know how many times he was in our old guild hall or sneaking into the Magic Council."

"He didn't!" Makarov burst out.

But they nodded.

"The Magic Council really hated him," Jet said smiling, "No matter what, he always made a fool of their defenses. And they couldn't ever catch him! I don't think that the kid was ever even phased by it, or anything for that matter."

"Not true, there was that one visit to our old guild building," Droy pointed out, food spewing between his lips.

"Oui," Reedus nodded in agreement, "I'd say he came back _shell-shocked_. It's the only word to describe it."

Makarov gulped, "Did he ever say what he found?"

Alzack shook his head, "No, which was strange. Link never shut up. But about that trip, the only thing he would say is that we shouldn't ever worry about you guys,. That the entire group on Tenroujima would be ok."

They all exchanged smiles, agreeing that Link had been right on that topic, while the Third Master let out a sigh of relief.

"Mind you, that wasn't the only strange thing that kid ever did," Nab huffed.

"What do you mean?" Lisanna asked him.

"He had this weird fascination with breaking pots and an insane fear of chickens."

"Chickens?" the group deadpanned.

"That fear isn't manly at all…" Elfman murmured.

"Cuccos!" Little Asuka yelled gleefully.

Alzack chuckled before explaining, "He kept calling chickens 'cuccos' and seemed appalled that we would eat them. He said going anywhere near hurting them would be suicide."

"It was very strange." the others all agreed, nodding as they remembered the incident.

"Still, even if he was a...let's say _unique _child, it just means he fit right in. And more than that. We owe Link quite a debt after all." Macao said.

"What do you mean?" Mira leaned across the bar, looking at him curiously.

Kinana answered, "Link kept us afloat financially. Sure, we still had to take out some loans from Twilight Ogre, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. Link couldn't stand sitting around and waiting for job requests to come in. He went out and searched for work."

"HE WHAT?!" Lucy burst out, shocked.

Kinana just nodded, "He would knock on doors and ask people. Soon, the people of Magnolia would save odd jobs just for him. We may not have been the most popular guild, but they all loved him. He did lots of things. Mowing lawns, which he was really good at by the way, or walking dogs, finding lost items. Anything he could. The other guilds even teamed up with him on occasion, letting him bring home most of the reward money."

"That's amazing…"

She nodded and Macao just repeated the earlier words, "We owe Link quite a debt."

"If I ever meet this man," Makarov whispered, "I'll have to thank him for taking care of my brats."

"I wish I could have met him," Erza sighed sadly, "Oh, those pesky seven years."

"Tell me about it," most of the others huffed in agreement.

"What happened to him?" Wendy asked, "Where did he go?"

"I'm guessing back to Hyrule," Macao said thoughtfully, "He said he would as soon as the goddesses deemed him ready."

…

And he was.

Link stepped out of the Temple of Time with a smirk on his face, Navi by his side once again.

His years with Fairy Tail had made him stronger, faster, smarter..._better_. He finally felt ready to face Ganondorf, a feeling that he had never had as a child.

He only had one regret though.

Mavis's spirit had told him when the Tenrou Team would be back when he had explored and found the Lumen Histoire.

He had been so close to their return date that he had started to believe he would make it. That he could meet all these amazing people that his guildmates had talked about.

He had just barely missed it, and he wouldn't ever get to return.

_Oh those pesky seven years…_

**Professor: And there we go. A one shot based on a theory on what I think would've happened if the goddesses had sent Link to Fiore instead of made him sleep those seven years. Hope you enjoyed it. I personally loved adding the little joke of Link never shutting up, because he has no voice! Haha, the little things crack me up. But, I will be doing another crossover of Fairy Tail and Legend of Zelda, one where Team Natsu goes to Hyrule in an interesting twist of fate. Keep a lookout!**


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